


So I stayed

by BrilliantlyHorrid



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alien DNA, F/M, It's in our blood, Near Death Experiences, Phil and Daisy are tired, inspired be S3 finale dream sequences, skoulsonfest2k16redux, sort of, vaguely menacing future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 08:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7526095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantlyHorrid/pseuds/BrilliantlyHorrid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you ever wonder?” Daisy asked faintly.<br/>“About?”<br/>“Us.”<br/>He hadn’t been expecting that. </p><p>Written for Skoulson RomFest 2k16 Redux - Day 1 - "It's in our blood."</p>
            </blockquote>





	So I stayed

“Do you ever wonder?” Daisy asked faintly, her face barely visible in the dim light of the pod. The red of the emergency lights out the windows reflected off the ends of her hair, catching the shine of her necklace when she moved occasionally, but other than that he couldn’t really see her.

“About?”

It could be anything, really, he thought. And for all they knew, they had all the time in the world to talk about it. If they hadn’t already been deemed disposable and left to die, the only thing to interrupt them would be a rescue.

 _Or a team to finish the job._ Daisy was exhausted and he was useless, it wasn’t as if the two of them could stop anyone if they decided to get rid of the _problem_ they presented once and for all.

But that was assuming anyone still occupied the base.

“Us.”

He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Daisy?” He asked, wishing she would move closer so he could at least see her, not just sit in the shadowy corner by the door that wouldn’t open.

Was she guarding it? That was something Daisy would do, near-powerless and weakened as she was.

They were lucky to have the meager amount of water they did, even not knowing how long they’d need it to last. Could be minutes, hours, or days.

Daisy shifted but stayed put, and Phil could see her fiddling with her hands.

“Why is it always us?”

Phil didn’t want to exacerbate his leg injury (again,) but something about Daisy’s voice worried him. Gingerly he stood up, walking the short painful steps toward her end of the pod, until he dropped on his ass across from her. He could see her better there, but it didn’t do much to push away his concerns.

“What are you talking about, Daisy?” He watched her warily, finally meeting her eyes when she looked up at him, tired.

He felt wrong-footed, no pun intended, for a moment. Like they were underwater or something, as if everything went silent.

“The alarms upstairs,” Daisy said, looking out the window. She was right, the distant blaring had finally stopped. He had completely forgotten about it. But he still needed to understand, maybe sooner now.

“Daisy, what do you mean, about it always being us?”

“I could have been down here alone, you know,” she said, twisting her necklace around her fingers. It was a long thin one with a small pendant. Like those she’d worn when she first joined up, before learning that jewelry someone could easily grab was a hazard. She must have bought it or found it when she was on the run, before being dragged back.

“But you’re not.”

“I know that,” Daisy said, almost sounding annoyed. “You’re always here.”

“Not always,” Phil argued, regretful. She didn’t say anything, and Coulson frowned. “Would you prefer I not be here?”

She looked up at him, incredulous. “Would I prefer you not be down here waiting to _die_? What do you think, Phil?”

What _did_ he think? Well, it wasn’t exactly his own decisions that landed him down there in the first place, so he couldn’t feel at fault for going against her wishes this time. And while he wasn’t happy they were in that position, he was at least happy that she wasn’t alone, even if that’s what she wanted. She wanted him alive, but that would require him leaving her and that was the last thing he wanted to do, to be honest.

_Was that what she meant?_

“Sorry I won’t stop following you around,” he joked, sort of. Daisy didn’t laugh, but she let out a little sighing noise that was encouraging.

“It’s hazardous to your health,” she said, and a familiar warning rang in the back of his head.

“Are you worried it’s because we’re...connected?” He asked, gesturing to the spot on his arm from where the blood had been drawn days before. Daisy’s posture stiffened, and her tired eyes continued to look anywhere but at him. “You think I’m always here because I’m being compelled to be?”

She shrugged, which meant _‘Yes._ ’

It made some sense, he knew that. He knew it two years prior, when the alien blood he’d injected her with that had caused him so much strife had no effect on her. Her, of all people. When he found out the blood coursing through their veins belonged to the same race that created, then sought to destroy her kind.

“If anything, you’d think I would have tried to kill you, not…” _Die with you._

Daisy looked at him curiously, with maybe the smallest hint of hope. It urged him on, even if he realized it was going to get uncomfortable. Quickly. “I see what you’re thinking, but I don’t think that’s it, Daisy.” He tilted his head. “I can’t prove that it’s not _a_ reason, but I think there are certainly others that could explain--”

Outside the pod, the red emergency lights flickered off. Manually or remotely, they would either know soon or not at all.  

From the pitch black, Daisy’s quiet voice almost startled him. “What other reasons?”

It was upsetting, really, that his options were quite possibly _now or never_.  

“Well,” he began, wincing. Was this really how he wanted to tell her? Weak and almost certainly dead. Leaning his head back against the wall, Coulson closed his eyes. It made no difference in visibility (or lack thereof,) but felt nice. He really was so tired, and just the act of finally letting his eyes droop shut made him feel warmer.

“Coulson _?”_ Her voice was closer this time, _much_ closer, and Coulson realized that the warm fuzzy feeling wasn’t coming from getting some shut eye. Daisy had moved directly in front of him and whether it was her powers, a fever coming on or just his imagination, she was positively radiating warmth.

Vaguely hearing a banging noise in the distance, Phil reached up blindly until his hands cupped her face.

“So this is why you won’t let me handle these things alone,” Daisy whispered, resting her forehead against his. Phil nodded, accidentally bumping his nose against hers. Daisy let out a quiet laugh before he kissed her, taking his chance while he could feel her breath on his lips. He didn’t want to miss.

“Sorry,” he muttered, keeping one hand resting on her cheek while the other rubbed up and down her back. “It’s not alien DNA, I’m just clingy.”

They both laughed this time, and he wasn’t sure if it was from being delirious or genuine amusement. Maybe even hysteria, as footsteps began to sound outside of their protective prison.

“I am glad you’re here,” Daisy whispered, kissing him on his cheek, his nose, then his other cheek. “I’d feel selfish about it if you weren’t so desperate to be near me anyway.”

“Hey,” he objected, trailing his hand down her face to her neck, before running her necklace between his fingers. He reached the pendant, trying to feel out the shape of it as the people outside got closer. He was about to ask what it was before the door opened and a flashlight shone in their faces.

“Sorry,” a familiar voice said, pointing the bright light down on the floor next to them. Phil smiled, leaning back against the wall once more as the small team came in, asking questions and checking them over. For two people apparently determined to die together, he and Daisy were really bad at it.


End file.
